Whether you voted for now-President-Elect Obama or not, the reality is that we, as America, have voted for Change. What does that really mean? Do we really want change? President Bush's approval ratings are at an all-time low of 20%, while Congress' approval rating, once as low as 12%, is currently hovering around 18%. So, although we don’t approve of Congress or our current President, could we be investing too much HOPE in one person to implement change? Here in Washington State we changed next-to-nothing in the recent election. We did not choose any new members of Congress, nor did we make any changes in terms of who runs state government. The only changes we did institute were in King County government and in how our schools are run.
If you look up "change" on your favorite online dictionary you will find words like: transform, exchange, to transfer from one to another, convert, etc.
Here are some changes that will be top of mind in the new presidency:
Infrastructure
Green Energy
Health Care
Economy
So what does this all mean? Earlier this year I heard a national pollster share results of a focus group that was asked if they wanted to vote for change. The response was nearly unanimously yes, which is why you saw President Clinton's message about change, President-elect Obama's message about change, and at the end of the campaign, even Senator McCain's speeches were peppered with the word. When the same pollster asked the group to define what the change is in practice, what they were willing to sacrifice for the change, people became nearly unanimously against the idea of change. How quickly the tide turns when we have to do the work.
Recently I received an email in which the author described our political system as "broken" and went on to say, "The people we have voted into office have caused the current problems by offering what cannot be attained so they can be reelected and by not dealing with the tough issues." While there are a variety of reasons for the low approval ratings of our members of Congress and the President, as well as for the election of Barack Obama, one of the huge issues is the way politics is played, which is not for the common people but for a few people. We as a nation must change the system. We cannot just elect one person and expect change; change will only come when we are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to make it real.
So the question is: If we as a nation truly want to change, what are you willing to do to bring it about? Are you willing to change? Are you willing to save 20% to purchase a home? Are you willing to hold elected officials accountable for their actions or inaction, for campaign promises not kept? Are you willing to mentor a child, volunteer for your local food bank, hospital or our many places in need? Are you willing to pay higher taxes so the national debt will be reduced? Are you willing to have government do less for you so they can limit and reduce their spending? What are you willing to sacrifice for the betterment of our nation? Now is the time to know where you stand.
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